Q&A with Maria Navarrine, Traveling Teacher from Argentina
Maria Navarrine is a teacher from an International Baccalaureate® (IB) school called San Patricio de Lujan School in Lujan, Argentina. Founded in 1968, IB is a nonprofit educational foundation offering four highly respected programs of international education that develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world. Maria teaches 17-18 year olds at her school and is also the Head of the Primary School for English.
Maria traveled to St. Louis from Lujan in mid-September 2017 to visit with her sister.
Churchill: How did you initially hear about Churchill Center & School?
Maria Navarrine: My sister has lived in St. Louis since 2009- her children go to MICDS and they know fellow classmates who went to Churchill’s summer program. I talked to Debbie Warden in February 2017 and again in July when I knew I was coming to visit in September. Deb was so welcoming and said to come on over!
Churchill: What interested you about Churchill?
MN: I was excited to come to observe and hopefully find new ways to enrich our curriculum back home.
Churchill: What were your favorite things about Churchill?
MN: I loved the openness of the teachers and students. Everyone was so welcoming. Some of the students even came up to me and hugged me! I felt so accepted. While observing, I was amazed by how hard the children and teachers work- they didn’t waste one minute of learning time, but the teachers kept everything fun- they moved from activity to activity throughout their time together. I learned so many great ideas to bring back to our school. I truly discovered a new view, a new way of teaching that really opened my eyes in a different way.
Thanks to Marie for visiting Churchill, and for taking the time to chat with us.